Stephen Wright, American Actor, wrote: “I bought some instant water one time but I didn’t know what to add to it!”

Dave Barry, American Humorist, wrote: “Not all chemicals are bad.  Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.”

The next time you think you are perfect, try walking on water.  It can be done, I think, here.  I know there are lots of unkind remarks about the water in Mexico.  Unkind aside, there is truth to the statement.  The water is suspect.  No doubt about it.  Mexico would never be mistaken for the Land of Sky Blue Waters.

Even the locals seem to have water delivered.  The good thing about water delivery is people travel through neighborhoods shouting “aqua” constantly and all you need to know how to say is Uno or Dos.  They carry it into our home and retrieve empty bottles upon leaving all for just 14 pesos – mere pennies in USD.

I tired to think about water the other day, but nothing happened.  Which is precisely my argument; I never thought about water much.  I’m quite sure all my eco-concerned friends will not be happy hearing me admit to this lack of thought.  But there it is I’ve put it on the table.  I took water for granted.

One good thing I’ve noticed about the water here in Mexico, after a shower my hair, which is baby fine, has much more body.  I try not to think about why I just look at the volume as a positive and go about my merry way.  Again, thinking, even once in a while, can be highly over-rated.

To take this one step further, I used to know someone – she was born in Finland – who used bleach when washing her dishes.  Not a lot.  Just a few drops.  My first reaction was: “ewe, how can you even think about putting bleach in your water”.  Well folks, I now not only put bleach in my dish water, I wash my fresh fruits and vegetables with a touch of bleach and, go figure, think nothing of it.

When we first arrived here many people said we should be prepared, at some point we would be visited by flu-like symptoms and the need for quick trips to the porcelain princess.  Knock on wood, neither of us has had that happen as yet.  We anticipate it.  We are eternally grateful that it hasn’t happened so far.

Something odd that has happened has to do with our wash machine.  Yes folks, I dragged our washer and dryer down to Mexico with us.  Had we known how inexpensive it is to get things laundered we would not have done so.  It costs approximately $5.00 USD to get three loads of wash done a week.  Since we lugged the washer and dryer down here it behooved us to attempt to use it.

Well, the dryer has never worked.  The correct electric outlet has been placed in the laundry room – it has never worked.  We simply get puzzled looks from everyone we’ve had in to fix it.  It does come in handy as a sort-of table that I’d truly be lost without.

I used to wonder: why is it when things get wet they get darker, even though water is clear.  I know longer wonder about that.  The washer does work.  Again, we were told ahead of time the water is dirty.  We do not have a filter system on our washer.  To step back, when we had our clothes laundered the one thing that stood out was the chemical smell – especially on the sheets.  Neither of us like that smell.

So, undaunted I began washing my own clothes.  Low-and-behold as time passed I noted the whites were not getting that sparkly clean look any longer.  Mysterious spots were appearing where there had been none.  Even David’s clothes, which acquire spots of their own volition, had more spots then usual.  Then I looked at my washer and the drum had a brown tint to it.  Heck, this is more then dirty water when it can dis-color the washer drum.

I do get a certain amount of satisfaction out of hanging the clothes up to dry. I am surprised to say, I don’t mind not having a dryer as the weather here is great for drying clothes and leaving them smelling like the great outdoors.  A benefit in my mind.

I close with a comment Jerry Seinfeld once said: “Now they show you detergents that take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there.  I think if you’ve got a T-shirt with bloodstains all over it, maybe laundry isn’t your biggest problem.  Maybe you should get rid of the body before you do the wash.”  Here, in Mexico, the bloodstains would blend in perfectly with the rest of the laundry – no need to dispose of the body!  Viva Mexico!

Amigo with water.

Water Caddy

Notice how the hummingbird's wings take on the color of the lily.

You can see the beautiful lily pedals through the hummingbird’s gauze-like wings.

Visit the BoomerstoMexico Photo Store at http://boomerstomexico.com/mexico-photos/ , to see more of the beauty of Ajijic Mexico in photographs.

“The cure for boredom is curiosity.  There is no cure for curiosity.”  Dorothy Parker

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”  Douglas Adams

If I had an inkling of what I was doing I’d probably be bored.  Since I rarely have even a modicum of organized thought (the key word being “organized”) I am not easily bored as I am used to boredom itself.

It is the rainy season here in Ajijic, Mexico.  What that means is it rains pretty nearly every night.  We are not talking a light mist here.  We are talking a heavy rain with thunder and lightening.  Like everything else in Mexico, it is done with a passion.  The skies put on this power show – lightening going from one end of the sky to the other making the night seem like day.  This is followed by mega thunder bursts – again reminiscent of the passion shown by Mexicans for almost everything they do.

All of this is followed by rains that come down in sheets – not drops.  Of course, after all of this behavior is over the mornings dawn with light that looks like its coming through some type of sieve or filter.  At this point you notice how green and lush everything is.  The mountains are emerald in color and hidden, up top, by tuffs of soft gray clouds.  The sun peeks through, occasionally, bringing with it humid air enjoyed, for the most part, by the incessant bugs that dart about everywhere wily-nilly with little regard for noises, eyes, ears or hair.  They seem to think their realm is where ever they decide to go and, for the most part, they are correct.

David and I have not been doing as much walking during this phase of Mexican weather.  We prefer to get our daily meat quotient via grilled, sautéed, baked or fried means – not via one of our orifices that are available to the critters that dot the air.  Opening your mouth to speak is tantamount to a seven course dinner of Lilliputians size helpings.

Consequently, I am including with this blog pictures of David “working” with his clicky thingy.  Hidden behind palms at the end of our porch waiting for the ever entertaining hummingbird to light upon the gorgeous lilies that capture what little sun there may be on any given afternoon.  This is not boring to him.  He has the patience of a saint or, perhaps more accurately, the patience of an artist who knows another great photograph is a mere click away.

And how, you ask, do I entertain myself while David pursues his next great “capture”.  I, most naturally, watch him, watching them allowing my mind to wander to places very few people have travelled much less returned from – the ever elusive universe of man aka something like “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”.  “For a moment, nothing happened.  Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen.”

There is a theory which states that if every body discovers exactly what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.  There is another theory that states this has already happened.  (Douglas Adams)  It is my theory that not only has this happened, it happened at night when everyone was asleep – just prior to the monsoons, and no one gives a darn except the flying critters of Ajijic.  Viva Mexico.

Enjoy some of David’s recent captures below….after my captures of David capturing the….oh you get my drift!

If you look closely you can see the "clicky thingy" in his left hand.

In flight.

Which pedal?

Amazing

Fabulous

Visit the BoomerstoMexico Photo Store at http://boomerstomexico.com/mexico-photos/ , to see more of the beauty of Ajijic Mexico in photographs.

Bill Watterson, American author and creator of Calvin & Hobbs says: “When birds burp, it must taste like bugs.”

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.”  James Dent (actor)

David has been spending A LOT of time on our porch.  Camera stationed on a tripod and focused on the lovely tiger lilies that dot our yard just off our porch and behind palm branches.

Let me step back a bit, one morning not too long ago David was working in the studio.  Our studio is up some stairs behind our house and overlooks beautiful Lake Chapala, glistening mountains ranges and swaying palm trees.  Inspiring, thought provoking, peaceful, enchanting are words that come to mind whenever we think of this fabulous studio.

On this particular day David let the door swing wide and air flow through, bringing with it an unexpected visitor.  As he pondered yet another array of photographs he had taken he heard this incredibly gentle sound, similar to a well-tuned motor, just above his head and to the left of where he was sitting.

He glanced up, his mind still on what he was doing (he can remain focused, something I’ve never been able to do) and lo-and-behold, there, right in front of him “stood” a hummingbird.  Anyone who has seen a hummingbird “stand” knows what I mean…straight up, wings moving with little effort he stared right into David’s face.  It was as if he was saying: “why not take some pictures of me and my friends?”

The photographs contained in this blog are ones I know you are going to enjoy, as David has managed to capture the character and essence of these divine creatures, as only he can.  They are a derivative of that invitation, for that is what I choose to believe that little hummingbird was doing in our studio that day.

We can sit quietly upon our porch each and every day and watch the lilies nodding their beautiful orange heads in the sun while an array of hummingbirds dip their beaks into the pedals’ lovely folds.

I can honestly say I have never seen birds with more character.  One afternoon I sat with him as he held his automatic snap-shot thingy (sorry folks, I don’t know the technical term) in hand and watched as these delightful and tiny creatures visited the lilies over and over again.  Often, they’d buzz in, test a few flowers and then stop in mid-air and look directly at David as if to say: “did you get that?”

Hummingbirds are amazingly tiny yet full of an exuberance for life, you can’t help but call them precious.  One more precious then the other, brilliant red heads, green feathers, tiny bodies and wings so clear you can see the flowers through them.

They may not be indigenous to Mexico.  They may travel the world.  However, we have been given the gift of time in this lovely, ancient Mexican village and so I say again, Viva Mexico!

[Note] Our lawn mower is broken and our gardener is cutting our grass with a weed wacker.  Needless to say, but say it I must, there is no quiet in Lawrence Land when the lawn needs mowing!

Can you see the flowers through his tiny wings?

He hovers just above the lilie.

Coming in for a landing.

Visit the BoomerstoMexico Photo Store at http://boomerstomexico.com/mexico-photos/ , to see more of the beauty of Ajijic Mexico in photographs.